By Julio Pabón
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – July 14, 2022 – (NOTICIAS NEWSWIRE) – We have received numerous inquiries about the recent events that took place in Puerto Rico regarding the Roberto Clemente Sports City. Many have asked us to help explain what has been going on as unfortunately, news of this type rarely makes it to mainstream corporate news here in the states. Therefore, we offer this statement to help explain what exactly is going on with Roberto Clemente’s dream of his sports city for the children of Puerto Rico.
As many news sources had reported in the past, Roberto Clemente’s dream of a sports City for the children of Puerto Rico had been shattered by the total neglect and terrible conditions of the complex. The land which was transferred by law in 1973 to the non-profit entity Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente, Inc. for the development of a sports City is all but a faded dream. The property had been falling into disarray for several years and made worse when Puerto Rico was hit by several hurricanes, the worst being Hurricane Maria.
As a result, there had been much discussion about the future of the complex and the ability of the Clemente family to continue to oversee and administer Roberto Clemente’s dream. The fact is that the property had become an eyesore and worst an embarrassment to the legacy of the great, Roberto Clemente. For years the family has promised to correct the problem. They had presented plans and in some cases studies with blueprints to show what they could do. Unfortunately, all those promises required raising a substantial amount of money that they could not raise. Many past donors and the public have become wary and some openly critical asking where has all the money donated to the sports city gone, or how has it been spent?
Those concerns and the deplorable conditions of the property have made many people question if the property should continue to be managed by the Clemente family? As a result, the Puerto Rico Senate voted two weeks ago to reclaim the property. The Senate’s action will transfer the Roberto Clemente Sports City’s land to the Department of Recreation and Sports.
Luis Clemente who has been in the forefront of the foundation administering the property has called the Senate’s action a “robbery” by the government of Puerto Rico.